Karin Kurosaki
Karin Kurosaki is the fraternal twin sister of Yuzu, daughter of Isshin and Masaki Kurosaki, and the younger sister of Ichigo. She is the new 3rd Seat of the 10th Division in the Gotei 13 after dying in the Human World through a mugging and gunshot accident, making her pure Shinigami and no longer human after she died. Karin is also a member of the independent Team Karakura, and the love interest of her captain yet best friend, Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Background Physical Appearance Karin is a short and petite teenage girl with dark grey eyes and raven-black, shoulder-length hair that is cropped straight down with the end in a short ponytail, tied with a red ribbon, and with chin-length bangs that parted down to frame both sides of her face. She wears the standard Shinigami uniform along with a thin, cobalt-blue strap with a chain buckle across her back and over her right shoulder, a pair of white wrist-length, fingerless gloves, and a white long, tattered cloak with dark green markings tied around her waist that goes down to her ankles. Personality Compared to her soft-spoken, sweet-natured and kind twin sister, Yuzu, Karin is a more authoritative, outspoken, cynical and sarcastic person. She is also very strict and rigid, often criticizing troublemakers for their bad behavior and old habits, even to her superiors, causing many to apologize, fearing that they might invoke her inner wrath. Karin's tough exterior results from her mother's death; because she could not be useful around the house like Yuzu, she resolved never to cry so that she would not burden her family with her personal troubles. As a result, Karin is the more hardened and least emotional between the two, resulting in her not being affected by most events that would more or less bring tears to Yuzu's eyes. Despite these obvious differences, both girls remain close. She is concerned for her brother when Ichigo appears stressed or when he disappears for long periods of time. During these times, despite her own worries, Karin will reassure her sister, being there for her, even during her Shinigami duties. According to both Yuzu and Momo, Karin is "amazing, warm and beautiful and full of righteousness", while to Hitsugaya, Karin is "strong, sweet, a bit vicious, but always cares for her friends", even so she can be really girly and loves sweet things, cute clothes and even different cakes, much like that of Erza Scarlet. Despite her reserved and serious demeanor, Karin can be very aggressive, impatient, and short-tempered when insulted or angered, even willing to pick a fight with someone when provoked (despite the sex difference), or when people don't answer her questions correctly. This massive temper strikes fear into many of her friends, enemies and even her family, making many afraid of her and try to get on her good side. Many characters believe that her personality has been compared to that of her brother Ichigo, and she addresses him as "Ichi-nii". They both feel a need to protect others and try to hide their emotions to prevent people from worrying. Like her brother however, she has shown on multiple times to be genuinely compassionate, empathic, and very caring when soothing others, giving little kids toys or games to cheer them up, or helping her friends regain their resolves in many dark times. Much like that of Erza, Karin has shown to has a bit of modesty and an unusual view on the concept in general. She generally has no problems with men (which fits her tomboy personality) seeing her naked, almost to one point she took Ichigo, her captain, and even Renji Abarai to a bath that made them think twice if they ever do anything perverted. She also has a strong desire to protect Ichigo and wanted the power to protect him just like he did with her, as well as any of the friends she cares about. Her determination and desire to protect those around her awakened her dormant Shinigami powers, and gave her the desire she needed, but it came through her death and is now deceased in the Human World, making her a being apart two worlds (Human World and Soul Society). Her desire to protect people has continue to grow during her career, and is willing to give her own life to save those she deeply cares for; she will also show a more murderous and darker side when people threaten those she love or say harsh things about them that might disrespect their feelings, and will show no mercy to any one who hurts them, even ignoring her own injuries to make sure they regret their arrogance. Synopsis Abilities Master Swordsman Specialist: Karin shows raw talent in swordsmanship and is her most unique skill in direct combat. She uses her over-sized Zanpakutō coupled with her size and speed to overwhelm even the strongest opponents for a specific amount of time. Though she normally fights with her sword right-handed, she appears to be ambidextrous, as she is even proficient in wielding Dangetsu with her left hand. She has later learned how to use her Hetsuga Tenkō to augment her sword swings with great effect. Kidō Expert: Karin is highly proficient in Kidō, like Hitsugaya and Hinamori, and is capable of performing high-level Kidō spells without the incantation. The only known Kidō skills she uses are destruction, healing, binding, and purifying. According to Hinamori and Izuru, Karin's can use Bakudō techniques up to #71 and her Hadō techniques up to #73. Shunpo Expert: Karin is very proficient at the art of Shunpo, which enabled her to block, dodge and keep up with captain-level fighters, even though she doesn't possess any of its' speed techniques. Hakuda Expert: Karin is very proficient in the art of Hakuda. She's not only proficient with punches and kicks, but also takedowns, grapples, and body-locks as well. She is quite gifted to counterattack her opponents by grabbing her enemy's hand or weapon with one of her bare hands just before they could lay a finger on her. Genius Intellect: Due to her known human knowledge, Karin has shown many times to be a well-known genius and a knowledgeable bookworm. During her time in Soul Society, she has vastly studied and gained a great knowledge of all of its' records, history and battle tactics. Her intellect is also well-versed in the fields of literature, mathematics, biology, chemistry and alchemy during her lifetime as a human. Her intellect is also known for her keen analysis, as she studies her opponent's abilities and discover the basic mechanisms behind them, then devise a way to counterattack them. Keen Aim: During her time as a human, Karin is talented at soccer which would strengthen her physical power. She defeats week Hollows by kicking a soccer ball at them. Enhanced Strength: Despite her feminine appearance, Karin shows a very high amount of average physical strength, showing great feats such as carrying objects many times her size and crush though thick walls with one fist. In addition, her sword slashes possess so much concussive force behind them that are able to slice through metal and iron using only the air pressure from Dangetsu's swings, as well as level ground floors to create craters. Immense Endurance: Karin has shown to possess a tremendous amount of physical endurance and vitality. Immense Durability: Despite her feminine and small size, Karin is an immensely durable fighter, capable of taking high caliber firearms, powerful physical blows, heavy energy blasts, weighted impacts, falls from great heights, explosions and various other opposing forces, and still kept on fighting. Enhanced Agility: Aside from his skill in Shunpo, Karin is also very quick and agile. In battle, she can effectively use the battlefield to her own advantage, flipping and jumping from one walls or building to the next to keep her opponents off-balance. Offensively, her agility grants her amazing balance and dexterity in battle, attacking her opponent from various angles with great accuracy and force in either her Shikai or Bankai. Advanced Growth Rate: According to Kisuke, Momo, and several captains of the Gotei 13, Karin has a similar astonishing ability like her brother, which is her growth rate. Ever since she began to train as a Shinigami under captain supervision, she began to learn the basic concepts of some advanced techniques that would take most Shinigami years to do though sheer will and instinct within only two months. She has also shown quite development in the four Shinigami arts (Zanjutsu, Shunpo, Kidō, and Hakuda) though that same determination. A day later, she began to learn the name of her Zanpakutō and has even acquired a constant release Shikai, due to her own increased spiritual pressure. At the same time, she learned the power of her Bankai and even knows its' capabilities within two days (albeit three days with the special device Kisuke gave her) at a very young age like Hinamori and Hitsugaya. Many people realize that she is the female counterpart of Ichigo Kurosaki. Spiritual Awareness: Karin is able to see spirits very clearly, including Pluses, Hollows, Arrancars and Shinigami. Immense Spiritual Power: Tōshirō Hitsugaya mentions that Karin has high spiritual power for a Human, as she is able to see him. After Ichigo lost his powers during the seventeen month timeskip, Karin's powers have got stronger to the point where she is at Ichigo's level before he gained Shinigami powers, and she now has hi spec spiritual medium disposition. After her death and began training as a Shinigami for seven months, her spiritual energy has increased tremendously due to her growth rate, which is twice as strong as a captain-class Shinigami, despite her position as a 3rd Seated Officer, thus earning her respect and trust to all of the captains, including the Captain-Commander himself; her immense spiritual energy can break any high-level Kidō Barriers with just a strong wave exerting from her body, which many Shinigami believed to be impossible. She also has highly strong reserves of spirit energy that allows her to use multiple high-level and taxing techniques without exhaustion for long periods of time. Her Reiatsu is green. *'Skilled Reiatsu Control': Zanpakutō Dangetsu (Slaying Crescent-Moon): *'Shikai': The Shikai form of Dangetsu resembles an enormous broadsword that is approximately about Karin's size from tip to handle, with a single-edged large blade approximately .5 foot wide with a light-grey coloration. The sword also has a bronze, bolt-shaped crossguard and a two-handed violet hilt with two green tassels attached to the pommel, which are decorated with a flame design on its' short sides. The wide blade of her Shikai can be used to block incoming attacks, and deflect energy attacks. Just like Ichigo's Zangetsu, Karin's Dangetsu is a constant release Zanpakutō due to her tremendous and powerful spiritual power. When Dangetsu isn't used, Karin, like Ichigo, manifests a cloth, likely with the blade's own spiritual energy, and cause it to wrap itself tightly around the blade, acting as an impromptu sheath. Karin can then store it by attaching it to the thin strap across her back. Whenever she is ready to use Dangetsu again, simply gripping the hilt will cause the spirit cloth to fall off and unravel. : Shikai Special Ability: Dangetsu is mostly used for melee and close-range combat, but possesses two certain special abilities: *'Hetsuga Tenkō' (Crescent-Moon Fang Heaven-Cutter): Upon slashing with the blade, Dangetsu absorbs Karin's powerful spiritual energy and projects it from the blade in the form of a tremendous crescent wave of light-green energy, like Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshō. Knowing the name of the attack increases the strength of the technique. She is also capable of using her Hetsuga Tenkō in several different manners, such as striking the ground to create an omni-directional blast to knock away incoming attacks or slashing at the ground to upturn it and crush everything in its path. She later uses the technique to strengthen the blows of her Shikai attacks and damaging her enemies with great effect. *'Migetsu Hōgeku' (Crescent-Moon Style Piercing Claw): Karin charges at her opponent full force with her blade emitting with immense spiritual energy, and makes a powerful slash at her opponent (s) and damages them in an arc wave of Reiatsu, also leaving a wide trail of destruction in her wake. She generally employs it as a finishing move. *'Bankai': Kensa Dangetsu (Royal Ribbon Slaying Crescent-Moon): Karin points her Zanpakutō in a straight direction, using either one or both of her hands. Her spiritual power surges and explodes, which creates a white smokescreen surrounding her area. Just like Ichigo's Bankai, her Bankai compresses her power, causing her sword to shrink down to a Claymore, with a silver-colored blade instead. It has a cross hilt of forward-sloping quillons with quatrefoil terminations, and the cloth wrapping colored dark green; dangling from the pommel is a short white ribbon with a moon-shaped crescent at the ribbon's end. Additionally to the sword, Karin's robe becomes a white long-sleeved, calf-length coat (or shihakushō) with dark green lining and white sarashi covering her stomach and naval, which is closed at her chest and left to flare out into ragged endings, much like that of Dangetsu himself, and sharring a close resemblance to her brother's original Bankai; on the back of her coat is the kanji for "Crescent Moon" written vertically upwards on the back. This coat is part of Karin's Bankai, and the damage it can take is directly proportionate to the remaining strength and level of Karin's Reiatsu. She still retains her lower Shinigami clothing (except for her tattered cloak) and footwear while in Bankai. Her Bankai is considered to be the most beautiful and amazing Zanpakutō in all of Soul Society, next to the Shikai of Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki. : Bankai Special Ability: Like her Shikai, her Bankai is mostly used for melee combat, but possesses a unique ability: *'Power Augmentation': **'Hyper-Speed Combat': Karin takes all the power of her Bankai and compresses it into a small, condensed form. Then, she uses the power of the Bankai to perform high-speed combat. Her new speed is so great, that it also enhances his Shunpo prowess and allows her to create dozens of afterimages to confuse her opponent. This ability is like the same as Ichigo's Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu. **'Enhanced Hetsuga Tenkō': Karin can still use Hetsuga Tenkō in its' Bankai form, but these potent blasts can now control its' direction, gains greater force and speed with explosive augmented power, and can be fired in a white spiritual energy with a dark green outline. Karin named her enhanced Hetsuga, "White Hetsuga Tenkō" (White Crescent-Moon Fang Heaven-Cutter) based on the color of her attack. She is also capable of using Hetsuga Tenkō to augment her sword swings for close-combat for more destructive blows. **'Enhanced Offensive Power': By compressing her power into a small, condensed form, Karin's Bankai increases her offensive capabilities, enhancing her combat prowess and physical strength, making her more powerful. **'Enhanced Kidō': In Bankai, Karin's Kidō capabilities have been gradually enhanced to the point where her low, mid, and high-level Bakudō and Hadō spells have greater effects on her adversaries and for battle support. **'Enhanced Spiritual Power': In Bankai, Karin's vast spiritual power has drastically increased. Like Ichigo, her spiritual pressure is so thick and rough, as well as intense and heavy, it can suffocate Humans who are in the general vicinity of her released Bankai. While in Bankai, her immense spiritual energy turns black with a green outline. **'Enhanced Bankai Duration': Furthermore, the fact that all of her energy is "compressed" means that usage of her Bankai doesn't expel as much spiritual power as other Bankai from the point of activation; thus allowing her to use Kensa Dangetsu at a much longer duration than any other Bankai users of her level, almost at the level of her older brother's if not higher. *'Tenbu Renjo' (Swift Strikes of Soaring Heaven): In mid-air, Karin swings Kensa Dangetsu in all different directions, slicing up many enemies in her path. She can even use this technique as a defensive move against enemy long-range attacks. *'Issentzuki' (White Moon Flash): Karin's most powerful, yet most dangerous Bankai technique in her arsenal. By charging most of her spiritual energy in one spot of her Bankai, she charges forward towards her opponent at high-speeds, thus slashes them through the center without any effects scene. Though once she moves her Zanpakutō with a flick of her the wrist she's holding her sword after standing, her opponent is lacerated in multiple directions, causing heavy bleed damage to her opponent. This move might even kill her opponent in one slash, so she would only use it as a last resort if no other choice to win as shown in her final fight against Ulquiorra. Power Status Tier: 7-A Attack Potency: Speed: Lifting Strength: Striking Strength: Durability: Relationships Family *Isshin Kurosaki (Father) *Masaki Kurosaki (Mother; Deceased) *Ichigo Kurosaki (Older Brother) *Yuzu Kurosaki (Fraternal Twin Sister) Friends/Allies *Team Warriors **Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya (Best friend and captain, also love interest) **Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki (Close friend and teammate) **Naruto Uzumaki **Sasuke Uchiha **Chūnin Hinata Hyūga **Jōnin Sakura Haruno **Natsu Dragneel ***Happy **Gray Fullbuster **Lucy Heartfilia **Juvia Lockser **S-Class Mage Erza Scarlet **Wendy Marvell ***Carla **Major Edward Elric **Alphonse Elric **Princess May Chang ***Xiao-Mei **Jōnin Kakashi Hatake **Captain Byakuya Kuchiki **S-Class Mage Jellal Fernandes **Meredy **Colonel Roy Mustang **Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye **Major Alex Louis Armstrong **Konoha 11 ***Sai ***Jōnin Shikamaru Nara *** Chūnin Ino Yamanaka ***Chūnin Chōji Akimichi ***Chūnin Kiba Inuzuka ****Akamaru ***Chūnin Shino Aburame ***Chūnin Rock Lee ***Chūnin Tenten **Team Karakura ***Lieutenant Renji Abarai ***Lieutenant Momo Hinamori (Best friend and equal partner-in-combat, close as sisters) ***Uryū Ishida ***Orihime Inoue ***Yasutora Sado **Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto **3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame **5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa **Fairy Tail ***Gajeel Redfox ****Panther Lily ***Levy McGarden ***S-Class Mage Mirajane Strauss ***Elfman Strauss ***Lisanna Strauss ***Romeo Conbolt **Twin Dragons of Sabertooth ***Guild Master Sting Eucliffe ****Lector ***Rogue Cheney ****Frosch **Yukino Agria **Kagura Mikazuchi **Winry Rockbell **Prince Ling Yao **2nd Homunculus Greed **Lan Fan Rivals * Enemies * Background in Other Media Trivia * Quotes * Battles & Events Navigation Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Shinigami Category:Shinigami Seated Officers Category:Kurosaki Family Category:10th Division Category:Gotei 13 Category:Team Karakura Category:New Allied Forces Category:Team Warriors Category:Bleach Characters Category:Primary Characters Category:Tier 7 Class